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Tiger A320s to operate domestic downunder?

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Old 18th Feb 2007, 11:50
  #61 (permalink)  
 
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Well this is just the manifestation of SQ's attempt of several years ago to enter the Australian domestic market.

They then through their board members at NZ tried and succeeded in collapsing Ansett as that was the cheapest option. They knew NZ did not have a hope of carryibng the ball.

The top 3 levels of management of Ansett had to be removed and paying them out was not an option.

Sing Air would not lose face, and could ride in like the White Knight and rebirth the floundering carrier.

Small prroblem occurred 24 odd hours before this when ragheads flew aeroplanes into buildings - Global panic - so the gentle Singapeurans pulled their heads in.

The great shame is that it did not keep Ansett alive by rebirthing it as was intended.

Our lives would all be a lot simpler if it had done so.

Best all
EWL
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 13:07
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Oh come on, enough of these rediculous conspiracy theories. Ansett went bust after YEARS of mismanagement. If my memory serves me correctly this management was only to happy to wash their hands of the whole operation and offload it to ANZ which inherited this massive mess including quite a few safety/maintenance violations that not only sent Ansett bust, but very nearly took Air New Zealand with it. Australia and New Zealand aviation markets both need to pull their respective heads out of their arses and allow a bit of competition which is beneficial for all involved.
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 13:28
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Australia and New Zealand aviation markets both need to pull their respective heads out of their arses and allow a bit of competition which is beneficial for all involved.
Here here A/H.......well said mate
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 13:52
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Alison Anderson should be careful what she wishes for. Other communities to wanted more airline competition, and got it in the shape of Jetstar and Virgin!

As soon as Tiger fire up then so will Jetstar and it's good bye QF clubs and Business Class. Alison will be here next year complaining that Alice Springs has lost "high end tourism" because of the lack of "full service airlines" and that QF should come back! No idea some of these people
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 21:17
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Low cost quality is already here you just aren't paying low cost fares very often. Flew BNE to MEL at the beginning of January with Qantas, midday flight full of families going home from holiday. Plane was showing it's age and apart from being given a bag with a sandwich in it and a free cup of coffee the scenario was equal to a UK holiday charter to Spain.Paid a high fare cos i booked late but the flight was fine.
Flew MEL to SYD last week with Virgin, paid a reasonable fare cos i booked early.The plane interior was in better condition than Qantas but the flight was definitely equivelant to a low cost European operation.The flight was fine no different to Qantas.
Your average punter doesn't bother too much about wether the flight is a low cost or full fare operation on reasonably short flights, say up to 4 hours, provided he thinks he is getting a good deal. Most consider safety and reliability and i am sure Tiger Australia will be as safe as Qantas or Virgin.Provided Tiger don't have too many delays (delays are one of the few things that turn loco flyers off)they should be succesful and Qantas and Virgin will have to rise to the challenge.
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 21:21
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Your average punter doesn't bother too much about wether the flight is a low cost or full fare operation on reasonably short flights, say up to 4 hours, provided he thinks he is getting a good deal.
Which is the principle I see Oasis applying to the LGW-HKG operation..with a few tweaks for a 12hr flight.

I wouldn't mind betting these guys will be another player into the Oz market (albeit long-haul) before too long.
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 22:42
  #67 (permalink)  
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haughtney1

If Oasis becomes a success i believe you are right, the next step change will be low cost long haul.I don't know how Oasis are performing now but they were having delays shortly after launch due to starting up too early.Shortage of aircraft and routing problems.. They have big plans for the future. Another Malaysian outfit is also planning low cost longhaul so Oz will be a natural routing i suppose.
Hpefully if more people have the opportunity to fly then everyone will be able to share the pie..
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Old 18th Feb 2007, 23:07
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I can just see Tiger doing DN-AS, AS-ML, AS-SY, AS-BN, AS-AD, AS-PH.

Alison, I would'nt hold my breath for that one............
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Old 19th Feb 2007, 03:04
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OKay, Enough is enought
Why would they want to concentrate on Darwin with a population of what 400,000 with majority of those routes are tourists.
It makes perfect sence for them to concentrate on Perth, and from what I have heard that's what they are doing........
Perth - Sydney & Perth - Melbourne are screaming for more seats as a result Qantas is now throwing 3 x 747-300's on the route and they are still full!!!!!!!!
There is plenty of VFR and corportate companies that fly this route...
My $$$$ will be them operating the golden triangle BNE - MEL - SYD and to PER from those routes.

Last edited by Skystar320; 19th Feb 2007 at 03:04. Reason: Forgot!!!!!!!
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Old 23rd Feb 2007, 06:18
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Skystar, Darwin has a population of just 120,000 actually, which further adds weight to your argument i guess. As a Darwin resident I see your point, I don't think it will happen either. NT govt. seems to have forgotten the rest of the country sees us as an isolated backwater, and they're trying to run this place like it were Sydney.

It would be nice if Tiger could introduce some daylight services to the East Coast from Darwin however. I regularly have to pax to Sydney, sometimes at short notice only to find the only seat available is a full fare red eye on QF, or an almost as expensive seat on VB (I refuse to fly Jetstar, but that is for another thread). I remember after the collapse of Ansett paying close to $1000 for a DRW-SYD-DRW flight on a 21 advance and the only flight available was routed DRW-SIN-SYD on the leg down! Improved when Virgin came in, at first however with the 734s with no IFE (by which i mean audio like on the -800s) on a 4 hour flight, it was cheaper, but you had to be prepared to leave at 1am, and change planes in Brissie... not much has changed, just not as cheap anymore. Bring on Tiger I say!
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Old 24th Feb 2007, 01:38
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Cleared Vis, note sure why you would'nt fly Jet*, if its leg room, you're in for a let down ( no pun intended ) apparently they shove 180 into their bus.
BN or ML - DN for less than $400 return on Jet*, there is no pleasing some people
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Old 25th Feb 2007, 01:00
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Bring on Tiger I say....no cruntinglinguist, people want choice, not your crappy outfit thrown at them and then told...this is what you pay for.

Last edited by Pete Conrad; 25th Feb 2007 at 22:00.
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Old 25th Feb 2007, 03:12
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I think people might be getting a little over excited about what this 5 aircraft outfit might actually offer us.

What exactly do people think Tiger is going to offer that either Virgin or Jetstar (arguably our two low cost carriers) don't? Generous luggage allowances? More legroom? Better flight timings? Flexibility with flight close out times? I'm thinking hell no. Yes some of Tiger's lead in fares are quite amazing. But then so are DJs and JQs when you can find them. And lets remember these great fares are always in short supply for any airline and always adequately compensted by yield managers with much dearer fares.

Tiger like every other operator will be out to make a buck. And making a buck for a low cost operation is providing a basic generic service which doesn't provide for much customer flexibility. Basic transport from A to B where the fills come a distant second to cramming as many people into the bus and getting it out safely and on time. Any add ons (extra luggage, food, late check in) you pay. All to make a buck.

With respect to serving smaller centres, if Tiger can make better money utilising their aircraft on daylight services between the "majors" ie SYD, MEL, PER and BNE, you can bet that DRW will probably miss out in achieving what people are hoping for by way of daylight services. An unfortunate reality of airlines trying to pull a profit; allocate the aircraft to where it will earn the best return.

And just to balance out the views the planes only leave DRW between the hours of 2300 and 0300 (which yes they do with those LCCs that many seem to detest so passionately on these threads), lets also remember QF still offer daylight services ex DRW to PER, ASP, ADL and BNE (and SYD during the dry). I don't ever really recall there being daylight services to MEL even back in the "good ol days".

I wish Tiger and those who decide to join good luck, but am somewhat cynical about where they will fit in the market?
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Old 26th Feb 2007, 02:03
  #74 (permalink)  
 
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Hi,

The previous poster made some quite good points, which I am going to expand on a little. These are all hypothetical so don’t shoot down my ideas but comments are welcome.

With five aircraft, there is only one idea that comes to mind and I’ll bet my bottom dollar on this that it will actually happen depending if Tiger is allowed to operate Australian services. I remember when Tiger launched services to Singapore to Perth I remember them saying that they wanted to make Perth a mini hub. When you compare that Perth is closest to Asian countries that the rest of Australia (beside Darwin which I haven’t forgotten, but left out for reasons that I will explain).
Perth – Singapore is what a 5hr flight at best of times, ideal sufficient range within an A320. The basis of this is that Tiger doesn’t have to get an aircraft that has longer legs to do SIN – BNE/MEL/SYD so going back to a true LCC  reducing costs by operating one aircraft.
With 5aircraft concentrating on the most lucrative Perth – Melbourne Perth – Sydney routes, it is possible of having up to 4 return services per route. When you see the lead in fares its makes sense that this will be the most lucrative routes. With the WA’s booming resource sector showing no sign of slowing and Qantas now putting 747-300’s on the route’s and still running at 90% + LF most accountants will be buzzing over the ‘potential’ profit figure.
By offering the ‘punters’ frequency there will be always Friend’s visiting relatives and business personal on these flights. Okay so let’s say that they set up a hub in Perth with 5 x A320’s flying Perth – Melbourne and Perth – Sydney. Now that they have got there ‘foot’ in the door Tiger can start offering flights to Singapore from both Melbourne & Sydney with a connection through Perth.
Remember Valuair’s idea of going into Sydney & Melbourne, there was one problem. True LCC have one set of aircraft, not two hence the idea of ‘lowering’ costs associated with operating one kind of aircraft.
I know I have only ‘skimmed’ the service so to speak, but to me and a few other people it makes sense for them to be based in Perth instead of Darwin. No offence to people living in Darwin with a population of only 120,000 they can support 5 x A320 aircraft. Its too much leisure traffic not enough corporate.

This is Skystar signing off for Aviation Weekly!

Bye
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Old 12th Mar 2007, 06:50
  #75 (permalink)  
 
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I've been bigging up Tiger for some time after a phenomenally cheap flight from Phuket to Singapore last year, but after a few bad experiences with them recently, frankly they can get f*cked!

Late services, completely uncontactable from Australia - they just DO NOT answer the phone on the 'other countries' number on their website, but rest assured you pay for the pleasure of being on hold - 66c (AUD) per minute.
On one occasion when I finally managed to get through to the call centre, the guy I spoke to assured me there were no senior staff working after 5 and that I was unable to escalate a complaint unless I rang back between 'normal office hours'. He was unprepared to take my details and get someone to look into my grievance, even after I re-stated just how uncontactable they are! All I wanted to do was upgrade my frikkin baggage from 15kg to 20kg, which frankly it should be on this route anyway. They wanted 72 hours notice for the upgrade, but after 3 weeks of trying to call them to upgrade, I finally managed to get through with about 66 hours remaining 'til departure, and they refused to upgrade me.

The 15kg baggage allowance on the Aus route is stupid and impractical anyway. Tiger's service is riddled with shortcomings which has made me revert to J* and pay a little more, but know I'm going to get more legroom, a sensibile baggage allowance and services that are more than often on time these days.

My most recent one-way Darwin - Bangkok 111 GBP fare (inc taxes) finished up being 180 GBP after all the phonecalls and eventual upgrade at on-the-spot baggage rates at the airport. I could've gone from Melbourne on Jet* for 177 GBP. With JetStar (and Virgin Blue when travelling within OZ) it's just a case of 'click and forget'. I trust them both. I just don't trust Tiger after my recent experiences.

Obviously Tiger will factor in a customer service function for Australia if they launch here, but the attitiude of the staff member I spoke to stank. Once Virgin Blue tweak their fares accordingly (which will inevitibly happen when the competition actually arrives), then Tiger will be blown out of the water. Flying Virgin Blue is fun and they have a loyal base. Flying JetStar is more formal, but it's getting more of a whiff of professionalism about it with every passing week and services are becoming more reliable - I use them a LOT. Tiger's brand of 'cheap and cheerful' could easily fall by the wayside in Oz, even if they are a bit cheaper. Lots of people can already afford to fly around Oz quite comfortably budget-wise, so low fares aren't the be-all-and-end-all that Tiger seem to think it is.

Before anyone starts - yes, I know it's low cost and I shouldn't expect all the trimmings. I don't. I just want to click and forget, like I said before. This **** smacks of being too cheap, though. Basic principles of the european-style point-to-point, low cost model are being trimmed away and circumvented by Tiger, but surely there's a limit as to how basic you should go?
Rant over.

Last edited by harrogate; 12th Mar 2007 at 08:23.
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Old 12th Mar 2007, 08:20
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I've been bigging up Dodgy Brothers house builders for some time after a phenomenally cheap house built in Sydney last year, but after a few bad experiences with them recently, frankly they can get f*cked!
Late services, completely uncontactable from Australia - they just DO NOT answer the phone on the 'other countries' number on their website, but rest assured you pay for the pleasure of being on hold - 66c (AUD) per minute.
On one occasion when I finally managed to get through to the call centre, the guy I spoke to assured me there were no senior staff working after 5 and that I was unable to escalate a complaint unless I rang back between 'normal office hours'. He was unprepared to take my details and get someone to look into my grievance, even after I re-stated just how uncontactable they are! All I wanted to do was get my walls that had fallen down rebuilt, which frankly it should be done anyway. They wanted 72 hours notice for the rebuild, but after 3 weeks of trying to call them to rebuild, I finally managed to get through with about 66 hours remaining 'till the housing inspector arrived, and they refused to rebuild my walls.
The 2 walls out of four allowance on the Aus house sux. The Dodgy Brothers model is riddled with shortcomings which has made me revert to Cheap As Chips House Builders and pay a little more, but know I'm going to get more walls, a sensibile walls remaining after building completed allowance and services that are more than often on time these days.

My most recent 5 story brick veneer house in sydney cost 111 GBP (inc taxes) finished up being 180 GBP after all the phonecalls and eventual rebuild at on-the-spot rebuild rates at bunnings. I could've built in Melbourne with Cheap As Chips for 177 GBP. With Cheap As Chips (and Never Fall Down when building within OZ) it's just a case of 'click and forget'. I trust them both. I just don't trust Dodgy Brothers after my recent experiences.


Obviously Dodgy Brothers factor in a customer service function for Australia if they launch here, but the attitiude of the staff member I spoke to stank. Once Never Fall Down tweak their prices accordingly (which will inevitibly happen when the competition actually arrives), then Dodgy Brothers will be blown out of the water. building with Never Fall Down is fun and they have a loyal base. Building Cheap As Chips is more formal, but it's getting more of a whiff of professionalism about it with every passing week and services are becoming more reliable - I use them a LOT. Dodgy Brothers brand of 'cheap and cheerful' could easily fall by the wayside in Oz, even if they are a bit cheaper. Lots of people can already afford to build around Oz quite comfortably budget-wise, so low cost houses aren't the be-all-and-end-all that Dodgy Brothers seem to think it is.
Rant over.
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Old 12th Mar 2007, 08:26
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hey hey hey, go easy on me! geez, just one little donkey......
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Old 12th Mar 2007, 08:27
  #78 (permalink)  
 
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-----------------------
*yawn*
-----------------------

At least post something funny.

You're up late - get back to your FlightSim.
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Old 12th Mar 2007, 11:26
  #79 (permalink)  
 
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I think you could apply your experience with Tiger to any airline in the world at some point or another.

I think what you will find with Tiger OZ though, is that they will offer a service very similar to the current Jetstar and Virgin offerings. The only difference being that seats that would normally go begging will be sold for the $10 price thats been bandied about in the media. Or, there will only be a small portion of $10 seats available on every flight, full or empty. The rest of the seats will have been sold at more realistic prices.

One things for sure. Virgin at least is concerned about this new player to the point of possibly establishing a "ultra LCC" to counter and if you listen to the spin doctors at CAPA, both Virgin and Qantas can expect a mauling of their bottom line from this outfit.

My money is on a successful startup and eventually more competition on the Pacific as they grow and branch out.
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Old 12th Mar 2007, 23:29
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I understand your point, but it's not an isolated case. I've now given up on these guys after 7 flights. Since my first experience in Asia, it's been rapidly downhill.

The folks in the arrivals area last night (mainly ozzies) were all talking of their growing dismay at the service. For anyone who's keeping an eye on their performances, last night's flight was about an hour late, and for what it's worth, less than half full (my girlfriend was on it last night).

Like I said before, it's almost too cheap - and you don't hear that complaint too often! Trying to do too much with too little, cutting corners to the detriment of the overall point.
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